Northwest/klm Considering 7e7

Northwest, KLM eye joint 7E7 purchase
Dateline: Tuesday September 14, 2004

Northwest Airlines and KLM are conducting a joint evaluation of the 7E7 that could lead to the two SkyTeam members ordering a common version of the aircraft, KLM CEO Leo van Wijk said yesterday in New York.

Speaking at a SkyTeam media event to welcome Northwest, Continental and KLM as new members, van Wijk also said that KLM and Air France have agreed to order a similar flight deck on their A330s. The cockpits "will be almost identical," he said.
Separately, NWA President Douglas Steenland declined to comment to ATWOnline about whether Northwest will place an order for the 7E7 before year end. Northwest currently is accepting A330s from a long-delayed order. The 7E7 is expected to compete against the Airbus jet.

Steenland said the carrier's need for a 7E7-type aircraft is not at odds with its current fleet plans. "We've consistently said that ourselves and other airlines would be well served by an aircraft with the range of the 747-400, but with a smaller shell size…The 7E7 seems to fit the niche."--PF
 
NW needs an airplane with 17 hours of flight time with a greater then 744 range but with 250 passenger capacity. The A330-200 now flying from the west coast to Japan is not a good Pacific airplane, it can't fly from Detroit to Japan. NW needs an airplane like the 7E7 for more nonstop opertaions. NW should look beyond the 744 and get its next Asian fleet plan in action. 777-200LR & 777-300ER plus 7E7's would be good.
 
JFK777
Ageed. The 7E7 would be a great aircraft for Northwest. Too bad it wasn't available when they were running the numbers between the A330 and B777 as I believe the B7E7 would have been the clear winner. It is my understanding that the B7E7 won't be available until 2008. By then only a handful, if any, DC-10s will be in the fleet and the remaining B747-200s will either be in the desert or converted into freighters. So maybe the B7E7 is an aircraft that NW isn't quite ready for right now but in three to four years it could be just the ticket.

I guess the only problems remaining would be one, financing. And two, the A330-200 since both aircraft are relatively the same size. But in the end with the great range and fuel efficiency of the B7E7, the two aircraft would fall into two very different roles. The A330 to Europe and the B7E7 to the Pacific.

If NW is able to get enough of a sweetheart deal from Boing by teaming up with KLM, I'd look for NW to be the US launch customer for the 7E7.

cheers

bigsky
 
I can see where the 7E7's would work for us, but do we really need another fleet type? Didn't we just spend a good part of the last few years rationalizing (sp?) the types we had/have?

Separately, what would doing a joint purchase with KL mean in real terms?
 
If KLM & NW team up for a 7E7 order I would like to see it as part of a greater SKYTEAM buy of say 100 to be alocated to any member airline. Air France,CAL, Delta should all sign up ( once fuel is cheaper) to replace thier large 767 fleets. Think what a discount GE would give on the engines ?
 
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #8
Bigsky said:
JFK777
Ageed. The 7E7 would be a great aircraft for Northwest. Too bad it wasn't available when they were running the numbers between the A330 and B777 as I believe the B7E7 would have been the clear winner. It is my understanding that the B7E7 won't be available until 2008. By then only a handful, if any, DC-10s will be in the fleet and the remaining B747-200s will either be in the desert or converted into freighters. So maybe the B7E7 is an aircraft that NW isn't quite ready for right now but in three to four years it could be just the ticket.

I guess the only problems remaining would be one, financing. And two, the A330-200 since both aircraft are relatively the same size. But in the end with the great range and fuel efficiency of the B7E7, the two aircraft would fall into two very different roles. The A330 to Europe and the B7E7 to the Pacific.

If NW is able to get enough of a sweetheart deal from Boing by teaming up with KLM, I'd look for NW to be the US launch customer for the 7E7.

cheers

bigsky
[post="179922"][/post]​
Separately, NWA President Douglas Steenland declined to comment to ATWOnline about whether Northwest will place an order for the 7E7 before year end. Northwest currently is accepting A330s from a long-delayed order. The 7E7 is expected to compete against the Airbus jet.

Steenland said the carrier's need for a 7E7-type aircraft is not at odds with its current fleet plans. "We've consistently said that ourselves and other airlines would be well served by an aircraft with the range of the 747-400, but with a smaller shell size…The 7E7 seems to fit the niche."--PF


My guess is ...Northwest is already in negotiations to place an order. Northwest is looking to have the most efficient wide-body fleet out there. The 7e7 is a perfect 47-200 replacement/ expansion. This time next year we will be discussing "how many" were ordered.
 
I believe NWA was looking pretty seriously at the 7E7 until Airbus said they are working on a new model of the A330-200 that would incorporate some 7E7 technology (primarily the engines) to acheive similar economics (I've heard it referred to as the A330-800 or A350). While I would love to see the 7E7 in Northwest colors, I simply don't see this happening if Airbus can deliver on their promises.
 
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #10
JetClipper said:
I believe NWA was looking pretty seriously at the 7E7 until Airbus said they are working on a new model of the A330-200 that would incorporate some 7E7 technology (primarily the engines) to acheive similar economics (I've heard it referred to as the A330-800 or A350). While I would love to see the 7E7 in Northwest colors, I simply don't see this happening if Airbus can deliver on their promises.
[post="181341"][/post]​
It is this kind of Industry competition that forces a company like Boeing to push the envelope...and the pax wins. God forbid they think they can make another "ANTI-PAX" plane again like the 757! Airbus keeps Boeing on it's toes.
 
It is this kind of Industry competition that forces a company like Boeing to push the envelope...and the pax wins. God forbid they think they can make another "ANTI-PAX" plane again like the 757! Airbus keeps Boeing on it's toes.

Amen to that. I haven't tried West Coast-Hawaii on a 757-300 yet, but I plan to avoid it if at all possible.
 
Back
Top